Small

How to spell small

5 letters · 1 syllable

How to pronounce small

What does small mean?

1. adjectiveOf limited size, amount, or extent; not large.

Small in a sentence

• They rented a small flat near the station.

• A small deposit was enough to reserve the table.

Where does small come from?

Language of origin: Germanic

This word descends from the Old English smael, which meant 'thin', 'narrow', or 'slender' rather than simply 'little in size'. It belongs to a broad Germanic family, with close relatives in Old Norse smar, Dutch smal (still meaning 'narrow' today), and German schmal, all pointing back to a shared root that described something slim or fine in width. The modern sense of 'little in size or amount' grew gradually during the medieval period, edging out the older 'narrow' meaning that survives only in fixed phrases such as 'the small of the back'. Because it is a native word and not a French or Latin borrowing, its spelling has stayed simple and stable for over a thousand years. The doubled 'l' at the end is the only mild trap, matching the pattern of other short native words like 'tall', 'wall', and 'ball'.

How the word is built

• small (single Old English root: a complete, unanalysable word with no prefix or suffix)